The Tale of the Stag and the Doe
by Lumos and Nox
Summary: This is a tale of James Potter and Lily Evans, as well as their friends. These two will go through the trials and tribulations of the War as well as building their own relationship.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Paths**

"Sev, I can't believe we are starting our fifth year at Hogwarts," Lily exclaimed brightly as they walked through Platform 9 ¾ to Kings Cross Station.

Severus Snape and Lily Potter were an unlikely duo to many who saw them. Lily was a Gryffindor, popular, bright, and was known for her fiery red hair and brilliant green eyes. Severus, on the other hand, was in Syltherin. He was not popular and did not have the best hygiene skills, which you saw in his lank, greasy black hair. However, Severus and Lily have known each other since they were little. Lily saw the good in Severus, but lately she has been wondering why Severus has been quieter and more distant over the summer.

"I know it's hard to believe," he said with little enthusiasm.

Severus had a rough summer. He had to endure watching his drunken father abuse his mother repeatedly over the summer and he could do nothing to stop it. He could not use magic to stop him since he was still underage, and every time he tried to take the blows his father would just get angrier and beat him and his mother worse. Severus continually asked his mother to leave, but she would not his father because for some sick and twisted reason she still loved him. Severus wanted so badly to punish his father, which resulted in Severus's interests in the Dark Arts. He felt that he had a right to meddle in the Dark Arts because his father deserved to suffer once he could use magic outside of Hogwarts. However, his interest in the Dark Arts has taken him onto a path that he was finding difficult to extract himself from. He had befriend many of the soon to be Death Eaters from his House. Through, these friendships he has been asked to join the Dark Lord once he graduates. He has not committed yet, but they become ever so appealing since they would not see the problem of stopping his Muggle father from hurting his mother.

"Sev, what is up with you? You are so quiet lately. Did something happen at home?" Lily asked with concern.

"I'm fine. Nothing happened at home," he lied while tugging on his sleeve to make sure the bruise was covered from where his father had grabbed and threw him against the wall.

Severus also did not want Lily to know that anything was wrong. He had told her once about his situation and she had been so concerned over it that he felt weak around her. He resolved to not mention anything to do with his family again, because he wanted Lily to see him as a strong individual. He loved Lily, even though she didn't have a clue. He wanted to impress her and he definitely did not want to seem weak.

Lily however, had no clue that Severus saw him as more than a friend. She didn't believe that Severus was fine, but she knew better than to push it. Even though she did not know he was in love with her, she could read between the lines of most of his comments.

"Okay then. So what big things do you think this year will hold? I hope that we will have Potions together again. You know that I love having you as a partner!" she said happily. She was hoping that talking about Hogwarts would get Severus out of this slump. It seemed to work has she saw a small smile form on his thin lips.

"Yes me too. You know that I am the better potion maker though," he stated waiting for her comeback.

"Yes well you might be ever so slightly better than me," she said smiling while she pushed his shoulder.

By this time they had reached red engine of Hogwarts Express. Lily had been made Prefect this year and would not be able to sit with Severus. They parted ways. Lily did not realize that this would not be the last time where she and Severus would take different paths.

"See ya, Sev!" she said when she gave him a quick hug.

"See ya," Severus mumbled turning slightly pink and walking away quickly.

He walked away slightly dazed and not really paying attention to where he was going. He walked right into James Potter. He hated James more than even his father, which was saying a lot. James took the opportunity to humiliate Severus whenever he had the chance. James could tell that Severus liked Lily, which infuriated him because he, too, liked Lily. James would often make a fool of Severus because James saw that Severus was close with Lily and that was something that James wanted so badly.

"Well if it isn't Snivellus in the flesh," remarked James to Sirius. "Wasn't I just saying how nice this summer was to not have a greasy haired know-it-all around."

"Why yes I think you did, James, and I think that trend should continue," Sirius said as he pulled out his wand.

Severus looked callously at the two of them, fumbling for his wand and said "Well I must say it was nice to not have an arrogant prat around, especially when I over at Lily's."

James eyes narrowed, Snape had hit below the belt. James pulled his wand and yelled, "Scougify!"

Severus's mouth was filled with the harsh taste of dish washing soap. He tried to speak but great bubbles where coming out of his mouth. He finally produced the countercurse, but it was too late. Potter and Black had already left. Severus was humiliated, but proceeded to find an empty compartment to sit and be thankful that Lily was not around to see that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Forms**

James felt as though he just completed a chore of cleaning the filth of Hogwarts as he and Sirius left Snape foaming at the mouth. However, Snape had hit a chord in James when he brought up spending time with Lily. James has always found Lily's fiery personality and beauty attractive. He, however, was not a part of her group of friends, not that he hadn't tried. Whenever he did try to make friends with Lily he always made matters worse, because he tried to impress her. Yet what Lily found impressive was not being an arrogant prat, and that is what James often ended up being in front of her.

James and Siruis went searching for Peter so they could sit and discuss this year's adventures. They finally found him sitting alone in the last compartment. Peter had a mousy face but his figure was anything but that.

"Well, if it isn't Peter Pettigrew," Sirius said with slight mocking. Sirius didn't complete trust Peter, but James was friends with him, thus meaning Sirius was friends with him too.

"Hey guys! I was wondering when you would show up," Peter exclaimed completely unaware of Sirius's remark.

"We ran into a greasy problem that we had to take care of," sniggered James as he sat down and put his feet up on the opposite seat. Sirius closed the door and also sat down with his feet up. "Well boys, I have been doing some more research on to our task to help our friend with his furry little problem," James said casually. Sirius and Peter sat up a bit straighter. "I was able to go through some of my father's books that he thought he hid well and discovered the fine details of turning into an Animagus." James explained all of the details to how to turn into an Animagus, by the end of his spiel he saw Sirius looked very eager, while Peter on the other hand looked weary.

"I ju-ju-st don't know if we should do this. I mean this just seems so difficult and so-o-o many things can go wrong. I just don't want to be half man half animal," stuttered Peter not making any eye contact.

This is what irritated Sirius. He wanted to help his friend Remus with the unfair hand he was dealt, and he would do anything to do it. If it meant turning into an Animagus, then he would do it. They had been researching how to become an Animagus since their third year, when they discovered that Remus was a werewolf. James had finally discovered all of the details of how to turn into an Animagus. Now all that was left was to perform the task. Sirius was also excited for the prospect of doing something illegal under the noses of all the teachers. These were the sort of things that Sirius lived for.

"Well when can we get started?" Sirius said ignoring Peter.

"Well, I figure we can return to our favorite place to practice," James stated excitedly. Of course he meant the Room of Requirements, and he too was excited that they would be able to actually do something beneficial for Remus. James was curious what animal he would turn into because he knew the animal was a reflection of your spirit. "I hope Remus can get away from his prefect meeting so we can tell him the wonderful news," said James.

Just as James had said that their compartment door slip open revealing a very worn out Remus. His sandy hair was longer than he normally kept it and he had dark circles under his eyes. Of course it had only been a few days since the full moon and it always took Remus some time to recover.

"Well speak of the furry little problem and hair he is," Sirius said smiling at his little pun.

Remus just rolled his eyes and took a seat. "How was everyone's summer?" he asked.

"They were good enough," said James with a wave of his hand. He was more excited to tell Remus of his discovery. "Muffliato," James said as he waved his wand.

"Oh don't tell me that you guys already have a prank planned. You know I can't really be involved, or at least it can _seem_ like I am," explained Remus as he pointed to his prefect badge.

"Mr. Lupin how dare you accuse _us_ of planning pranks. You know full well that we _always_ do as we are told," Sirius said as though appalled. "We even did some extra research over the summer, didn't we James?"

"Yes we did, and we wanted to reveal to you some of that research," James said, "but if you don't want to know that we now have all the needed research to transform into an Animagus then I guess we won't."

"YOU WHAT?!?" Remus half yelled. "I thought you gave up that crazy idea at the end of our third year."

"Ha!" said Sirius, "I thought you knew us better than that. I can't believe you fell for that lie. We just figured if we quit bringing it up you wouldn't be disappointed if we couldn't do it, but you don't want us to continue…" Sirius trailed off.

"No no no. I wouldn't mind some company during my monthly adventure," said Remus.

"That is good news because we believe we will be able to join you next month for your adventure," James said with excitement in his eyes. He quickly filled Remus in with all the details of what they were going to do.

Peter was sitting there quietly. A lot of things were running through his mind. He wanted to help Remus, but he was afraid of what could happen. He knew that he would do it, but he was going to have to rely greatly on Sirius and James.

"Sorry boys," said Remus, "but I must go patrol the halls. And thank you for the superb news!" Remus left his friends and went to go patrol the halls. 'This is going to an interesting year' thought Remus, 'I can't believe they have actually figured out how to do this.' He was completely in his own world when he stumbled right into Lily.


End file.
